The invention described here may be made, used and licensed by the or for the U.S. Government for governmental purposes without paying us any royalty.
In recent years there has been an increased use of capacitors in the electrical systems of vehicles to meet surges in power demand. One particular use of capacitors is to augment the vehicle battery""s power when starting the vehicle. Since capacitors are charged gradually over time by such means as solar cells, repeated discharges of the capacitors in a brief period will drain them. Another problem occurs if the solar cells malfunction or are exposed to insufficient sunlight for long periods because the capacitors"" charge will ebb over time and the capacitors will be ineffective when needed for a power assist.
We solve the foregoing problems with a capacitor-assisted starter circuit wherein a pack of capacitors is recharged under controlled conditions by the battery as the vehicle runs. The starter circuit includes a control circuit which prevents spikes of charge to the capacitors when the pack""s voltage has fallen below a safe threshold. The control circuit thus prevents damage to the capacitors that the spike can cause and allows the battery to function more efficiently when charging the capacitor pack.